North Korea has test-fired a series of missiles in an apparent act of defiance on 4 July, American Independence Day.

Reports say at least seven Scud-type ballistic missiles were fired, with a range of about 500km (312 miles).

South Korea and Japan called the latest tests, which follow several others in recent weeks, an “act of provocation”.

North Korea is banned from all ballistic missile-related activities under UN sanctions imposed after a second underground nuclear test in May.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said the missiles were fired from one of the North’s east coast launch sites on Saturday morning.

All landed in the Sea of Japan, known in South Korea as the East Sea.

“Our military is fully ready to counter any North Korean threats and provocations,” the JCS said in a statement.

A South Korean defence official said Saturday’s tests were of greater concern than four short-range ones on Thursday, as the missiles had longer ranges.

“Thursday’s missile tests were apparently made as part of a military drill but today’s launches, which came on the eve of the US Independence Day, are believed to be aimed at political purposes,” the official told Yonhap news agency.

The South Korean government condemned the launches for being in breach of the recent UN security council resolution.

Nuclear warhead fears

The BBC’s John Sudworth in Seoul says the launches are seen there as part of North Korean efforts to ratchet up the tension.

The missiles’ estimated 500km reach – although still technically short-range – brings most of South Korea withing striking distance, our correspondent says.

Japanese and South Korean media have reported that North Korea may be preparing to launch an intercontinental ballistic missile.

Our correspondent says there are no signs that such a test could be imminent.

Pyongyang is banned from testing ballistic missiles under UN resolutions but launched a long-range rocket in April, which many governments saw as a thinly disguised test of Taepodong-2 missile technology.

There are fears that North Korea is trying to produce nuclear warheads small enough to put on missiles.

After six-nation talks aimed at curbing North Korea’s nuclear ambitions broke down earlier this year, Pyongyang said it would “weaponise” its plutonium stocks and start enriching uranium.

On 12 June the UN Security Council approved a resolution allowing inspection of air, sea and land shipments in and out of North Korea suspected of carrying banned arms and weapons-related material.

The North has said it will treat any interception of its ships as a declaration of war.

North Korea said it will “weaponise” its plutonium stocks amid threats to take military action over United Nations sanctions, state media said.

Pyongyang has for the first time confirmed it is seeking to enrich uranium in efforts to develop nucealr weapons, it said. North Korea would view any US-led attempts to “blockade” it as an “act of war”, the Associated Press (AP) said. It follows a toughening of UN sanctions against the communist state.

The warning from North Korea’s foreign ministry was carried by Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Saturday. ‘Unacceptable behaviour’ On Friday, the United Nations Security Council voted unanimously to impose tougher sanctions on communist North Korea, after its nuclear test on 25 May. The North also tested a rocket thought to be capable of carrying a warhead, though Pyongyang said it was designed to carry a satellite. The UN sanctions include the inspection of North Korean ships, a wider ban on arms sales and other financial measures. The US deputy ambassador at the UN, Rosemary DiCarlo, said the new vote was a strong and united response to North Korea’s “unacceptable behaviour”. The North Korean foreign ministry statement said: “Firstly, all plutonium to be extracted will be weaponised. One third of used fuel rods have so far been reprocessed. “Secondly, we will start uranium enrichment,” the statement added. The BBC’s John Sudworth in Seoul said the admission that Pyongyang was trying to enrich uranium was worrying, as the processing could take place in a smaller reactor and was easier to hide. Korea analyst Aidan Foster Carter told the BBC Pyongyang’s process was “out of control” and that nothing seemed able to persuade North Korea to stop its nuclear ambitions – neither sanctions nor financial incentives. He said the nuclear stand-off may be part of internal ructions as Pyongyang’s leader Kim Jong-il decides which of his three sons will take over from him. Handful of weapons North Korea is thought to possess enough reprocessed plutonium for between six and eight nuclear weapons. However, analysts say Pyongyang has not yet mastered the technology to make a nuclear warhead small enough to place on a missile. Pyongyang has stated its nuclear weapons programme is purely a defensive measure to protect it against a US attack. Washington has said it does not intend to attack the North, and is concerned Pyongyang’s nuclear knowledge could be passed to other states.

Obama is due to meet with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak at the White House on June 16 to discuss a number of issues, expected to include including growing threats by North Korea which tested a nuclear bomb in May.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Sunday Washington was considering putting the reclusive North back on its list of states that sponsor terrorism, further isolating a country already facing additional United Nations sanctions.

The journalists, Euna Lee and Laura Ling, of U.S. media outlet Current TV, were arrested in March working on a story near the border between North Korea and China. The trial for the two, working for the company co-founded by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, had opened on Thursday.

“The trial confirmed the grave crime they committed against the Korean nation and their illegal border crossing as they had already been indicted and sentenced each of them to 12 years of reform through labor,” the official KCNA news agency said in a brief dispatch.

In Washington, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the journalists’ fate should not be linked to the dispute over Pyongyang’s nuclear program.

The White House said in a statement Obama was “deeply concerned” and added: “We are engaged through all possible channels to secure their release.”

The journalists’ sentence seemed certain to deepen the chill in relations with the United States which has been trying for years to convince Stalinist North Korea to give up its ambition of becoming a nuclear weapons power.

“(North Korea) is using the sentence as bait to squeeze concessions out of the U.S. amid heightened tension,” said Lee Dong-bok, a senior associate with the CSIS think tank in Seoul and an expert on the North’s negotiating tactics.

South Korea’s main stock index dipped as the news of the sentencing weighed on sentiment. “Although this (fall) will probably be short-lived, there still are concerns the United States may take stringent measures in response,” said Lee Yun, a market analyst at Woori Investment & Securities.

Analysts say it would take a military clash at sea or on the border to have a major impact on global markets.

Given all of that, and the fact that no one is sure who is calling the shots in the North’s capital, Pyongyang, it is tempting to throw up one’s hands and say that there is no point in trying to negotiate. But there is no military option here. Diplomacy — backed by stiff sanctions — is the only hope for walking North Korea back from the brink. And for now, China — not Washington — is the prime player.

It is time for China (host of the six-party talks scuttled by Pyongyang) to exercise the leadership it has long shirked. As the North’s main oil and food supplier, it has more leverage than any other country. We understand that China is worried that too much pressure could topple the government, pouring refugees over the border.

Beijing should be able to calibrate that pressure. If not, North Korea will end up with a nuclear arsenal that could pose an even greater threat to China and the whole region. Already some in Japan and South Korea are arguing for their own weapons.

The Security Council displayed welcome unity on Sunday, condemning North Korea’s test and its missile launches. Now, it must impose new sanctions — and implement existing ones — on North Korea’s political and military elite: blocking luxury imports, freezing overseas bank accounts, and making it much harder for government-controlled companies to get the hard currency they need to do business.

Pyongyang has already sold nuclear fuel technology and missiles to unsavory customers including Iran and Syria. And some analysts suggest, chillingly, that this week’s tests may be advertising. North Korea must be prevented from selling any more of its dangerous wares.

South Korea’s decision to join the Proliferation Security Initiative — a voluntary group of 95 countries that shares intelligence and trains to interdict dangerous shipments — is overdue. North Korean officials need to be told quietly that Washington and its allies are not looking for a showdown, but they will redouble efforts to track those shipments and stop them if necessary.

The goal of all of this is to get nuclear inspectors back into North Korea and North Korean officials back to the bargaining table. President Obama has said that he is committed to the six-party talks — which also include Japan, South Korea and Russia — and aides say to eventual bilateral negotiations. Those talks are North Korea’s only hope for coming in from the cold and ending its deep economic privation.

Unfortunately, Pyongyang doesn’t see it that way right now, which is why the international response must be firm and skillfully choreographed. Loudly castigating and threatening North Korea and then failing to implement sanctions is worse than doing nothing at all. It will only embolden Pyongyang and send a dangerous message to others — Iran is surely watching — about the fecklessness of the major powers.

Source: New york times